


An Unrequited Warning

by PTwritesmore



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Canon Compliant, Community: Dramione FanFiction Forum, F/M, Good Draco Malfoy, Hogwarts Era, Pining Draco Malfoy, Quidditch World Cup
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:40:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28037832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PTwritesmore/pseuds/PTwritesmore
Summary: Can Draco make it in time to save the witch he's secretly been in love with? Otherwise known as, what was going on in Draco's head the night of the attack at the World Cup. Dramione one shot.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 9
Kudos: 72





	An Unrequited Warning

Draco panted as he ran through the woods, sprinting faster than he ever had during quidditch warmups. He had to reach her in time, to warn her. He stumbled over a tree root, but righted himself quickly, hobbling now on an ankle that he was certain was twisted. He could barely feel the pain in his panic. There would be time to fix that later. Right now, he had to save her. 

A few days before the start of the World Cup, Draco’s father had sat him down in his study, a room that was off limits to Draco without express invitation. Lucius’ so called business associates had just left, all in high spirits. Draco’s stomach turned as he passed the black-clad group in the hall. He knew that something bad was going to happen and soon. As Draco sat down on the emerald velvet couch in Lucius’ office, the older wizard poured two glasses of firewhiskey. He pushed one towards his son and nodded to him to pick it up. 

“Draco, I know you’re excited about the World Cup,” Lucius started, leveling his pale eyes on his son. Draco nodded, fighting the urge to gulp by taking a large swing of the glass. “My friends and I will be having a small gathering at the event. Nothing major, of course. But I think it would be best if the  _ two _ of us were to hide in the woods on my signal,” Lucius said, emphasizing the word two. Draco knew his father was asking Draco to provide an alibi, claiming they were together during whatever would happen. “Of course the two of us should not be seen, by any one, under any circumstance. Do you understand?” Draco nodded grimly before throwing back the rest of the glass, prompting his father to chuckle. Now Draco shuddered as he ran, recalling the unsettling conversation with his father. He’d had no idea that this small gathering would include an attack. 

Taking a moment to breath, the blond wizard repeated the incantation again with his great-grandfather’s wand, producing a small light. His father had given the hickory wand to him his second year, should he need to perform magic without a trace. “Emergencies only, not for schoolyard fights,” he could hear his father's cold voice warning him as he broke out in a run again, following the blinking glowing dot representing the girl. This was certainly an emergency to Draco, but he doubted that his father would agree. In fact, he did not want to think about what his father would do if he learned that Draco not only deliberately disobeyed him, but did so to save a muggleborn witch. Draco groaned at the thought, but shook his head to remove it. He had to focus. He was getting close now, the spell in front of him showing the glowing dot growing.

As he came to another stretch of trees, he heard Weasley’s obnoxious voice yelling instructions. This meant it was showtime. The pale wizard canceled the spell and positioned himself against the trunk of a nearby tree, folding his arms to look relaxed and turned his head to watch the destruction of the campsite. As the trio came upon him, he expected them to react to his presence. When he realized they hadn’t and would soon miss him, he called out, forcing them to turn and look at him. Predictably, Weasley turned immediately to violent threats on sight.

“ _ Language, Weasley _ ,’ Draco said, forcing his tone to be even as he focused on the boy. He couldn’t bring himself to look at her yet. “ _ Hadn’t you better be hurrying along, now? You wouldn’t like her spotted, would you? _ ” He prayed the three of them would quickly get the hint as he nodded towards Hermione. Behind him a blast went off, shooting green light into the sky above them, causing Ron and Harry to look at each other in a panic. Hermione on the other hand kept her eyes on Draco, tipping her chin out at him and scowling with defiance. He always liked that about her, her feistiness, her willingness to rise to a challenge. That is usually why he tried to provoke her, to have her turn some of that intense attention to him for once. He’d take whatever crumbs he could. 

“ _ What’s that supposed to mean? _ ” Hermione asked harshly, though her voice still sounded like honey to him. He could tell her chestnut eyes were glaring at him, though he couldn’t see now that it was dark again. How many times had he fantasized about seeing her back at school over the summer? He hadn’t considered she’d be at the World Cup. She hated quidditch, even he knew that. When he’d steal glances at the witch during his games, she was never watching him because she had her nose buried in a book. It always annoyed him, and caused him to make risker moves, to provoke Potter, just so he was sure she’d be watching. But when he saw her with Potter and the Weasley clan earlier, his stomach sank in dread. He knew she’d be in danger, though he would have no way to warn her without tipping off her party and, worse, his father. 

“ _ Granger, they’re after Muggles, _ ” Draco said hurriedly, focusing only on her. The light going off around them allowed him to see her a bit better. Her cheeks were flushed a deep red from running, her curls even more wild than normal. Other than her scared expression, she looked gorgeous. He wanted to commit that sight to memory. “ _ Do you want to be showing off your knickers in mid-air?” _ Draco asked, cringing internally at the cruel question. “ _ Because if you do, hang around, they’re moving this way, and it would give us all a laugh. _ ”

_ “Hermione’s a witch,” _ Potter practically growled at him, stepping in front of Hermione to protect her. As much as Draco hated him, he could kiss the scarred idiot in that moment. The raven haired wizard just had to keep moving, keep protecting her, and everything would be okay. 

_ “Have it your own way, Potter _ ,” Draco rounded on the boy, unleashing the anger he felt at the situation onto the other wizard. He forced himself to grin, knowing he’d look particularly unhinged. He wanted them to be scared enough to run. “ _ If you think they can’t spot a Mudblood, stay where you are. _ ” Draco avoided Hermione’s gaze as he said the word. Of course, he’d meant it the first few times he’d said it to her, in second year, when he blindly followed his father’s beliefs and before he realized why he cared so much about her reactions to things. Last year, he continued to use it even though saying it to her made him physically ill, to keep up appearances with his house. Tonight it was like bile on his tongue, which he desperately wanted to clean out with compliments and apologies.

“ _ You watch your mouth! _ ” Weasley shouted, stepping aggressively towards Draco. Draco resisted the instinct to roll his eyes at the ginger’s need to escalate to a fight, when he should have been listening to Draco’s warnings instead. Had they been in any other situation Draco would’ve met him with the same aggression, not one to be shown up. But instead, he took a deep breath and gave him a hard stare. 

“ _ Nevermind, Ron, _ " Hermione’s voice came again, much more gentle this time, as she restrained the Weasel by grabbing his arm. He ignored the twist in his gut as he watched Hermione touch Ron. Another bang sounded out, much louder this time. Draco released the breath and stood still, before forcing himself to softly chuckle at the screaming nearby. 

_ "Scare easily, don't they? _ " Draco asked tauntingly before facing Ron. " _ I suppose your daddy told you all to hide? What's he up to - trying to rescue the Muggles? _ "

" _ Where are your parents? _ " Potter spat at him, face flushing the same color as Weasley’s hair. " _ Out there wearing masks, are they? _ " Draco turned away from Ron to look at Potter with his smile still plastered on. 

" _ Well. . . if they were, I wouldn't be likely to tell you, would I, Potter _ ?" Draco did roll his eyes this time. How Potter planned to survive the Dark Lord with his limited intellect, Draco did not know. It was clear that Hermione was the only brains behind their little operation. He hoped she’d use them and move their group along now. 

" _ Oh come on, _ " he heard Hermione mutter as she shot him a disgusted look. His heart sunk in his chest at her withering glare, but he steeled himself, knowing that keeping her safe was more important than any opinion she may have of him. She muttered something he couldn’t quite hear to the other boys. They nodded and began to run the other way without another glance at Draco. 

" _ Keep that big bushy head down, Granger _ ," Draco called out to her as his goodbye. It was the closest thing he could say to ‘be careful’ without causing issues. He watched her petite form fade away in the dark, her messy caramel curls bouncing like mad behind her. 

Draco sighed, backing his body into the trunk of the tree. He slid down the tree and put his head into his hands, scrubbing his face a few times. If his father found out where he’d been, what he’d done, Draco wasn’t sure what he’d do. Over the past few years Lucius had turned from a pushover who doted on his son, to a dangerous and angry man. He knew his father still loved him, but Draco wasn’t sure he still would if he found out that he loved a muggleborn witch. He pulled out the wand and recited the incantation again, watching the small do grow smaller, but continue to blink. He hoped she’d make it through the night and he’d see her on the train soon, safe, no matter how much she hated him. She was all that mattered. 

**Author's Note:**

> The language in italics is borrowed from JK Rowling. I haven't written a pining Draco before, but I really enjoyed it. I always thought he was warning them to some degree, but I really like the idea of him wanting to save Hermione. What do you think?


End file.
